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Forum:He went up Anyway
"Ground control to Major Tom." Ten, nine... Voices. Nothing but voices. The blackouts were nothing. Nothing to worry about, and nothing to tell the Space Program. There was nothing wrong with his head... Tom blinked. It took a second for his eyes to focus and look around the space pod. He took a deep breath to clear his tired mind and pressed the intercom button. "Major Tom to Ground C-Control..." "Commencing countdown, engines on." Tom flipped a gray switch at the command of Ground Control. The countdown went on, althought the voice seemed faint to Tom. Eight, seven... With a shaky hand, Major Tom reached for the cabinent by his feet and hastilty pulled it open. Brown eyes blinking at the green pill visible at the bottom of the bottle of tan pressure pills, worry struck the astronaut. Had anyone noticed? Perhaps one of the officers... Or Birch... No. If someone had noticed, they would have said something. Besides, it wasn't like the green pill was anything harmful. It was just something Tom used to calm himself down. Six, five.. Major Tom fiddled with the lid of the pill bottle for a moment before getting it open. The astronaut hadn't even poured enough pressure pills into his palm when Ground Control spoke again. "May God's love be with you, Major." Tom had a slight smirk as he downed a pressure pill and the green pill. There's no God where I'm going, he thought. Four, three... Two, one... Blastoff! Oh, the feeling of bliss that overcame that tired astronaut as the calm-down pill kicked in! "This is ground control to Major Tom, you've really made the grade," a voice said, bringing the Major back to reality. A soft smile on his face, Tom moved forward and pressed the intercom button, but only chuckled. "Now it's time to leave the capsule... if you dare," someone said, adding a fake evil voice to the end. Tom knew it was Birch. Birch and Tom had been friends for years, and Major Tom would always be thankful for Birch's attempts to add some personality to the training events... But Tom wasn't in training anymore. Oh, no. He was Mr. Spaceman, hero of his neighborhood. "This is Major Tom to ground control, I'm stepping through the door," Tom said through the microphone attached to the inside of his helmet. A sly smile made it's way onto Tom's face. One more step, and he'd be free of that blasted world forever. No more taxes. No more worries or cares. Due to space being a vacuum, Tom did not hear his cord snap, but he felt it. "This is Major Tom to ground control, I'm floating in a most peculiar way," he said, feigning that the cord's snapping was an accident. "And the stars look very different today, Birch. Here am I sitting in a tin can far above the world.... " Back on Earth, Birch's eyes widened as he heard the tone of Tom's voice. "Major? Are you alright?" "Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles, I'm feeling very still...And I think my spaceship knows which way to go. Tell my wife I love her very much," Tom said dreamily. In a room near Ground Control, a dark-skinned woman sat in a chair, a machine relaying Major Tom's transmissions to her. She held her hand over her heart, as if she could keep it from breaking. "She knows," the woman said, tears flowing down her face. She knew this day would come. A strange crackling and popping noise was transmitted to Ground Control. "Ground control to Major Tom, your circuit's dead, there's something wrong! Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you HEAR ME?! Can you..." Birch gulped. They had lost the signal. "....Here am I sitting in my tin can far above the Moon...Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do, " the astronaut said, closing his eyes to embrace eternal sleep.